Bun B Says Houston Treats Its Rap Legends Better Than L.A. And New York – Vibe

“You go to LA, they don’t celebrate—maybe Snoop [Dogg] and [Ice] Cube—but [DJ] Battle Cat and those dudes, they don’t get the respect they’re supposed to get,” he said. “Big Daddy Kane and them, they’re getting all thier love now because it’s the 50th anniversary [of Hip-Hop], but they don’t be showing up for them and Rakim like that all the time.”

The veteran rhymester pointed to a recent event he and his Trill Burgers restaurant held in honor of late Houston rapper Big Pokey, who passed away in June. According to Bun, thousands of people showed up to pay homage to the Screwed Up Click member’s legacy, a testament to the loyalty shown by the Houston community to its homegrown artists.

“Literally hundreds of people, almost 2,000 people, show up at Trill Burgers yesterday to support Big Pokey’s family to buy the meal and the soda,” he explained. “Houston is different. I’m not saying that we’re better than people but we understand our city and our culture better than I think other people do, and we represent it way better than anybody.”

The award-winning burger maestro also noted the fact that he’s still able to sell out large venues, despite he and his peers not having scored a major Billboard hit in over a decade. “You could never fill up … Giants Stadium with people who haven’t had a hit record in 15 years,” he said.

“When we did the first Rodeo, our newest record was ‘[Int’l] Players Anthem.’ That’s from 2007, that was the newest record. When we did it this year, the newest record was ‘All Gold Everything,’ Trinidad James—that’s an 11-year-old record. This city different, bro.”

Watch Bun B’s Idea Generation interview below.